Silent Song
by Deshi22
Summary: After losing her voice in a horrific incident, Lark tries to forget her past and atones for her sins by taking care of others. However, when she meets the Elric brothers, her life is turned upside down again. Secrets are revealed and danger lurks in every corner. Based off the first anime. Will have original content mixed with canon. Envy X OC later in the story
1. Every Day

Silent Song

Chapter 1: Every Day

The pipes squeaked as I twisted off the water. I grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. Then, I stepped out of the shower and onto the mat I had placed there to prevent slipping. The mirror to my right was fogged up from the hot water I had used while showering. I rubbed a hand across it and looked at my reflection. Waist-length chestnut hair clung my neck, dripping wet. Blue eyes stared back at me, fringed with thick lashes. And on my throat... a scar ran across the width of it. I looked away. It was from my own stupidity. The same old image I saw every day.

I got dressed, tied a bandanna over my neck to cover the scar, and towel-dried my hair. I braided it loosely and went downstairs. My house had two stories. My room and the bathroom were upstairs, along with another bedroom and a study. One-half of the downstairs area of my house had the kitchen, dining room, and a half bath. A door in the kitchen led to the basement, which I rarely used. I worked as the doctor in the town, so I had converted it into a pseudo-hospital. The entrance, the house's actual front door, led into a place was like a waiting room. There was furniture in it, so it also doubled as my living room. The hallway was lined with rooms where patients were kept. At the end of the hall was the door to my actual house, which I kept locked. The room closest to it was where I kept the medicine and equipment. Because I lived in a rural town, there wasn't much equipment, so I used it to dry the medicinal plants and mix the ingredients together to make the medicine. I also had a cabinet in the waiting room stocked with pre-made medicine, gauze, and other medical supplies.

I had an extensive knowledge on plants, and all biological things in general. Before my parents' death, they had taught my sister and I many things. I had taken the medical exam to become a doctor and passed it with flying colors, thanks to my parents' teachings. However, the exam was never "officially taken", meaning that they had somehow acquired the official test and had me take it at home. I hadn't questioned it at the time, but now I knew better.

Anyway, I was smart enough to be able pass college by the time of my parents' death, so I was able to continue the business they had started. Everything I knew was taught by my parents, or from books and information I gathered. It was my parents who had converted the house into a healing facility before I was born. The townspeople hadn't questioned my taking over. I was already treating the patients before, so they trusted me.

I made breakfast for myself, and gulped it down. I then prepared breakfast for all the patients. It was laborious work. The season brought in a wave of diseases. The sand from the desert had caused many people to contract bronchitis. It had gotten into people's lungs and infected them. It was easily treatable, but I kept the ones that could develop pneumonia in the house, so I could keep an eye on their condition.

Just about all the rooms were occupied with bronchitis patient, so I had to make a large amount food and tea, which helped clear the lungs. It took me three trips to give them the food. After I was done handing out the food, I checked all the patients and gave them their medication. The first patient was a little girl named Lanna. She had been a sickly child ever since she was born, so I was naturally worried about her. I lifted her arms, signaling her to stand up out of the bed. When I exaggerated my breathing, she got the hint and inhaled deeply. I pressed a stethoscope to her bare back, lifting her shirt, to listen to her breathing. It was sounding better than yesterday, but they were still causing me worry. I made a coughing sound, and she did the same. Just as I thought, she still had a wet cough. I pulled down her shirt and put on a pair of medical gloves, before turning back to face her. I tapped on her mouth and she opened it. Pointing to my throat and dragging it upwards, I told her to make an "ahhhhhh" sound, so I could examine her throat. She did what she was told and I found that her throat was still inflamed. When I moved away to measure out her medicine, Lanna mumbled, "How long do I have to stay here?"

I smiled at her and held my fingers an inch apart. She sighed and took the medicine I held out to her, drinking it in one gulp. She made a disgusted face and I laughed inwardly. Children were so cute. I tucked her into the bed, and then walked out the room to check on the other patients.  
Most of the others were in a similar condition, getting better but still causing me worry. I wrote what I thought down on the notebook I always carried with me and ripped out the page, which I handed to the patients. Because Lanna couldn't read yet, I skipped that step. I knew also sign language; my parents taught it to me, but only a few other villagers knew it as well. I got along well with the ones who did, but the others were all used to my silence, so they took it without much question.

It was the final patient was the one that worried me. He was an older man, around fifty-five or so, named Mark. Though men his age were supposed to be able to defend against something like that, as well as the fact that he was native here, he was turning for the worse. It may have been for the fact that he was a heavy smoker, or just that he had a weaker immune system. As I inspected him, I noticed that he had more trouble breathing than the day before. When I listened to his lungs, they sounded like they were blocked. Mark's cough was extremely bad, shaking his body each time. Yet, he cheerfully struck up a conversation with me after the examination.

"So, Lark, you're sixteen now, right?"

I nodded my head as I thought about switching his medication. Perhaps I should try to clear the lungs first?

"My youngest son, Alex, is eighteen. That's close. He's a real man, just like his father." Every time he came here, Mark tried to set me up with Alex. I knew Alex. After all, I was the town's only doctor, so I had to know everyone. Alex was a nice person, but I wasn't interested. Getting into a relationship would only distract me. The town's health was my first priority.

I pretended to think about it, just to humor the man, and then shook my head. I walked toward the door and held up a finger, asking Mark to wait for me, while I got his medicine. He, looking slightly disgruntled, waved his hand, only to be interrupted by a series of coughs. The bed shook underneath him each time a cough racked his body. I entered the hallway, wincing when I heard him again. As I walked toward the storage room where I kept the medication, I mentally calculated and measured out the ingredients for Mark's new formula. It wasn't too hard, considering I had used it before.

I quickly and carefully crushed the herbs together, then adding some chemicals that would help as well. When I was done, I had created a bitter potion that had to be taken twice a day for about a week to get rid of phlegm, soothe the inflamed throat, and ward off other bacteria. I wrote down the instructions on a piece of paper and returned to Mark's room.

He had been waiting patiently for me, relaxing when I handed him the potion and the note. He finished reading it, then asked, "Is this contagious?"  
I shook my head. He looked relieved. "So my family can come to visit me."

I gave him a smile, jerked my thumb toward the waiting room, and then pointed at the floor with my forefinger, like to say, "They're probably here right now." I wasn't lying. I really could hear people chatting in the waiting room.

After making sure Mark drank the potion, I made my way to the waiting room. Most of the patients' family and friends were there, so I gave them slips of paper I had prepared earlier that had the room number on them. The atmosphere was filled with soft chatter, making the house livelier. I was the only one working there, so the extra noise was always welcome.

I let out a contented puff of air, and continued to my everyday activities.

* * *

Two people walked through the desert, one in a suit of armor, the other a short blond teenager with a gaudy red cloak. Edward and Alphonse Elric had just come out of Liore after experiencing the world's biggest letdown.

"I thought we finally had a lead on the Philosopher's Stone!" Edward was still complaining about the events that had happened in Liore. They had traveled all the way from Central due to a rumor they had heard that the small desert town was experiencing strange miracles. The brothers had assumed it was alchemy, after all, it was a desert; it wasn't supposed to be so prosperous. They had gone there to find out more.

"Brother, we did kind of get a lead." Alphonse said, surprising his brother.

"And what is that, Al? All priests are fakes?" Ed snorted sarcastically.

"No, the fake Stone did have some qualities of the real one. So, what if we found the person who made it and asked them about it?"

Edward straightened up, but then slouched again. "Oh yeah, you weren't there for the rebound."

"Rebound?"

"When he tried to transmute a gun, the fake Stone rebounded on him and ended up transforming his entire arm into one." Edward explained. "His arm was messed up. There was metal and wires coming out of it. Probably really painful. That stupid Cornello deserved it."

"Oh." Alphonse managed to look disappointed even though he was wearing armor. It was always strange to Ed how his little brother could display so many emotions through the mask of metal.

The brothers continued walking, heading to the nearest town, a small while away from Liore. It was a small rural place, located at the edge of the desert, an oasis of sorts. They needed a place to stay after all that had happened. Overthrowing priests was hard work.

A small sign, with the words: "Welcome to Percole" told the brothers they had arrived at their destination. It was, in fact, an oasis compared to the rest of the desert. There was grass growing through the cracks of the cobble-stoned streets. The townspeople were lively, children running around. It looked quite healthy and prosperous.

Ed was feeling hungry, so he walked to the nearest place that served food, a place called, "Oasis". It was located outdoors, much like bar in Liore. However, it was bigger. Not only did it have stools lining the counter-top, it also had separate tables with chairs. He and Al sat down at one of the tables, and one of the waitresses handed them each a menu. As Edward scrolled through the list, a man walked into town and headed for Oasis. Some men at the bar recognized him, and approached him.

Edward and Alphonse stiffened when they heard the men ask the newcomer, "How's Liore, Harold? Your priest still performing miracles?"

Harold angrily replied, "That damned bastard was a fake. He was tricking us all along. Now he's left us, and the town's going to crumble again. We would have been better off if he wasn't found out." He quickly downed a couple of shots, before slamming his fist on the counter top. "How in hell will I find a way to help Claire now?!"

"Calm down," one of the man's friends stepped forward. "If your daughter's that sick, we can take her to Percole's doctor."

"How do you know he's not a fake?" Harold muttered darkly.

"_She_," another man responded. "Has lived here for her entire life. Her parents were the doctors before her." Ed was confused. In such a small town, there were actual doctors?

"Fine," Harold stood up, obviously drunk. His words were slurred and his gait was unsteady. "Let's see how your little miracle worker is."

He turned around, and caught Ed staring at him. "What're you lookin' at?" The drunken man's eyes widened. "You're the one who ruined everything!"

Before anyone else could move, Harold had smashed a bottle and stalked toward the young man. He shook it at the blond, his hands trembling with anger. "We would have been fine without you coming! We needed him! He was our only hope!"

He lunged at Edward, who was just standing up, caught by surprise and didn't have time to react.

"BROTHER!" Alphonse cried as the older man stabbed his brother in the stomach with the bottle. The man's friends tackled Harold to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" one of them yelled.

"He's the reason Claire's dying! He took our hope!" Harold roared, struggling under his friends' holds.

Ed fell to the ground, blood trickling onto the dirt. Alphonse picked him up and looked around.

"Where's that doctor you were talking about?!" That questioned was directed toward the man who hadn't restrained his friend. He was standing by the side, pale and unmoving. "Hey! Where is she?!"

The poor man was startled, seeming like he woke up from dream. He glanced at Edward's limp body, then at the suit of armor talking to him. Realizing what he had to do, the older man took off toward the doctor's house with a yell of: "Follow me!"

Al darted after him, clutching his bleeding brother.

* * *

**This is my first ****fan fiction I've actually published. It will probably be long, so stay tuned for more. Favorite, review, follow! Let me know if I did anything wrong.  
**


	2. Meeting the Elrics

Silent Song  
Chapter 2: Meeting the Elrics

* * *

**Realized I forgot this in the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me. I believe it goes to Hiromu Arakawa. I do, however, own the original content in here, for example, our darling heroine, Lark.**

* * *

The sun was setting as I plopped down onto one of the couches in the waiting room. I had just given the patients their dinner. The day had been very uneventful; just people coming by to refill medicine. The visitors had all left to go home, all stopping to thank me for what I had done for them. I nodded my head, letting them know I appreciated their thanks. Now, I was sitting on the couch, eating my own dinner, my notepad sitting on the table. The entire house was silent, except for the occasional cough.

Suddenly, the front door burst open, revealing Marvin. He was one of the few people who used sign language. I got along well with him, despite the fact he was a bit of a coward. The metallic clanging reached my ears before I saw the enormous suit of armor emerge from my busted door. In its arms was a pale boy, who appeared to be unconscious.

"Where's the doctor?!" I blinked in surprise when I heard a child's voice come from the giant hunk of metal.

"Lark!" Marvin yelled frantically. "A kid's bleeding over here!"

I stood up and clapped my hands twice, telling them I was right in the room.

The armored boy turned his head toward me and asked, "Is the doctor-"

Marvin interrupted him. "Oh th-thank god. The ki-kid over there got hit by a bottle. He's not doing so we-well!" His voice trembled, pointing to the boy his companion held.

I moved quickly, throwing a blanket on the ground, and then patting it. Opening the cabinet, I got out a bottle of alcohol, some gauze, and a pair of tweezers. When I turned back, the armor had placed his friend onto the cushions. I signed, "Take off his clothes" to Marvin, and ran outside, stopping to get a bucket and a washcloth from the cabinet.

I darted around to the back of my house, where the hose was and filled up the bucket with water. After half the bucket was full, I hurried back inside to find that the boy was stripped down to his underwear. The lower part of his abdomen was bleeding quite heavily. Marvin looked like he was going to faint. He turned to face me, and I signed, "Get out of here". If he was in here any longer, he would pass out. The last thing I needed was to take care of a grown man who couldn't help.

He understood me and nodded, all but running to get out. I knelt down to the blond boy on the floor.

His breathing was heavy; his face was pale. The armored boy was frantically crying, "Brother! Wake up!"

I dipped the washcloth in the water, and started cleaning the wound. Once the area was clean, I was able to inspect the damage. It was deep, blood coming out fast. His clothes had prevented most of the glass from getting stuck in his skin, but there were a few large chunks of it in his skin. What worried me most was the fact that he was weakly coughing. Coughing up blood. That meant there was internal bleeding. Judging by the location, the bottle had punctured the poor boy's stomach.

The boy in the armor must have seen the worried look on my face, because he started shaking me.  
"Please! Please! Save my brother! He's all I have left!"

My heart wrenched. I knew the feeling of having my family ripped away from me. The need to save the ones I loved. Hearing that, it made me even for determined. The cuts weren't clotting fast enough, and if I tried to place pressure on the wound, the glass would cause even more damage. The only thing preventing him from bleeding to death at this instance was the glass clogging the blood. There was only one option.

Moving as fast as I could, I grabbed the tweezers and started for the chunks of glass. My hand was steady as I plucked the glass from the flesh of the boy's stomach. The places where I removed the glass started bleeding more.

I took a deep breath, and placed my tweezers next to me. I put my hands together, like a praying position. And I brought them down on his stomach. Blue light flashed around my hands, the sign of something being transmuted. Alchemy.

I concentrated in increasing the amount of platelets in the places that were bleeding, so that the blood would clot. I was also able to mend the organs that were punctured. After that was done, I cleaned the area with water, and then alcohol to prevent infection. The blood had stopped, so I dressed his cuts with the gauze.

Stopping to get a good look at the boy, I noticed that his left leg and right arm were made of automail. I was curious on how he got them, but everyone had their secrets and not all of them wanted them to be told. His face was still pale, so I needed replenish his blood.

I reached over to the table where my notepad and pen sat and wrote, "Do you know his blood type?" The note was given to the boy in the armor, who had been sitting in silence.

"He has type-A blood." He said quietly. I had no fresh blood in storage, so I had to make my own. I entered the storage room and gathered the chemicals needed to make it. I carefully measured out the formula, put it together in a bowl, then clapped my hands together and transmuted it. The blood was poured into a bag, which would connect to an IV drip. I grabbed the bag and a rack made for hanging IV's , and walked back to my waiting room.  
There were no rooms in the hospital part of the house, so I would have to place the boys in my spare bedroom. After cleaning up my long-forgotten dinner, I motioned for the armor-wearing boy to pick up his brother, and led them down the hall.

* * *

Alphonse walked down the hallway, holding his brother. Edward looked like better now that he was no longer bleeding. Alphonse remembered how the girl had scared him when she started pulling the glass out of his brother. The blood had poured out of the wounds, and he feared she was trying to kill Edward. Then she had used alchemy to stop the blood flow, effectively surprising him that she knew alchemy, the astonishment doubling when he realized that she didn't even use a transmutation circle.

Just like Edward.

When the girl reached the end of the hall, she pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She entered the place, flicking on the light.

It appeared to be a dining room. There was a table set up in the middle, surrounded by four chairs. The light source of the room was a simple, overhead, dome-shaped light. To the left of them was the opening to the kitchen, which seemed really spacious. The girl went into the kitchen, and placed her dishes in the sink. In between the entrance of the kitchen and the wall of the dining room was a staircase leading to the second floor. The door to the bathroom downstairs was on the far right wall. Al was struck by how cozy the house looked.

He suddenly realized that he barely knew the girl's name and she he.

"Your name is Lark, right?" he asked. She turned around and nodded in response. "I'm Alphonse and that's my brother Edward."

Al took the time to actually look at her, since his mind hadn't been so clear when he first met her. Lark was wearing a doctor's coat over a simple yellow dress. She wore a pair of black flats, and on her neck was a dark bandanna. Her hair, escaping the braid it had been put in, was a rich brown with a hint of red. The pieces framing her face were slightly wavy. What caught Al's attention were her eyes. They were an icy blue, yet they showed so much emotion. Her eyes at the moment were large and innocent, as if asking him if he had more questions.

"Are you the only doctor in the town?" he inquired again. And again, Lark simply nodded.

"How old are you?"

She flashed one finger, and then followed by six. "Sixteen?" Alphonse guessed.

She answered with another nod of her head.

Turning around, Lark took him and his brother upstairs. She opened up the door to her spare bedroom, allowing the duo in first. The room was large, with two twin beds placed by opposite walls. Al laid Ed on one of them, making sure his brother was comfortable. After Lark set up the IV drip, she inserted the needle into Edward's arm. The liquid immediately started to flow into him, replenishing his blood supply.

She turned to Al, and mimed eating something. He shook his head. When she spun around to walk out, she crashed into Alphonse. His armor let out a loud metallic ring. Her face turned red and she bowed her apology. Before he could reply, she exited the room, leaving the two brothers alone to sit in silence.  
It was then that Alphonse noticed that Lark hadn't said a word or even made a sound.

* * *

After I closed the door to the boys' room, I started shaking. When I ran into Alphonse, his armor sounded empty. The vibration had rung through the entire thing, with no body inside to stop it. What could have happened for a boy to end up with no body?

I did not believe in spirits, demons, or the like. Unless the armor was run by a motor and someone had attached a microphone to speak through it, which was impossible- there were no wires nor was there a power source- the boy's soul was bonded to the armor. I had read something like that before and had the knowledge to do it myself. It was called soul bonding: a form of human transmutation. That meant him or his brother, or both, were alchemists and had broken the taboo. I suspected Edward's automail limbs had something to do with that as well.

I went back to the hospital part of my house to clean up the mess we had made. The floor wasn't that dirty, save a few splatters of blood and water. Unfortunately, the blanket was ruined. I balled it up, and threw it into the trash. I then filled a bucket with water and an antibacterial formula, and dunked a mop in it.

Seeing Edward's clothes thrown onto the floor, I picked them up. Something dangled from the waist of the pants. I examined it. It appeared to be a silver pocket-watch with a lion on its hind legs carved in the front. My mouth went dry. I had seen one before; in the study, where I kept things my parents had.  
This boy was a state alchemist.

I almost didn't want to believe it. Edward looked like he was my age. Teenagers weren't supposed to work for the military. They were too young to see so much violence and bloodshed! Sure, the state alchemists "helped the people", but now, after the war in Ishval, nobody saw them that way.  
Percole was an anti-military town. They had a strong opposition of them. I believed that the people of the town were distantly related to the Ishvalans, so they had felt the anger and anguish when they were mercilessly slaughtered. Another thing the villagers had inherited from the Ishvalans was their hatred of alchemy.

My parents were state alchemists, but they had run away from the military after finding out something horrible about it. I had looked through and memorized all their notes, trying to decipher what had happened. I had yet to discover what it was. They had escaped before the Ishvalan Civil War started, so I knew it wasn't that. Anyway, my parents had taught my sister and me alchemy behind the villagers' backs. We practiced in the basement, where no one could see us. We had a natural affinity towards it, and soon mastered it. I was especially good at medical and biological alchemy, though I could use most types. However, I could never perform it for the town without angering them. That said, quite some people had been lost because I couldn't use my alchemy to save them. The only reason I had used it today was because the two boys were outsiders, and there was no one around to see me use it. Alphonse's desperate pleas had reminded me of how I felt when I lost my sister; what it had drove me to do.

Shaking my head, I set the pants down on the table. It, the shoes, and the cloak were relatively clean, so Edward could wear them again. I threw out his jacket and shirt; both were shredded and bloodied beyond repair.

After I was done mopping the floor, I dumped out the water and dried the ground. I nodded. It looked clean, like nobody had almost died there.

I guess that was kind of what I was going for.

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**Who here doesn't like some dry humor sprinkled in there? Don't answer that; it's rhetorical. **

**Thank you so much to those who read, and especially those who followed and favorited the previous chapter. Of course, review, follow and favorite this for those who haven't. It wouldn't hurt to see some reviews. I can't read your minds! **


	3. Betrayal

Silent Song

Chapter 3: Betrayal

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. The original content does belong to me, though.**

* * *

_All he could see was darkness. He floated along, bobbing like a fishing lure. He tried to move his body, but he couldn't even feel it. What terrified him, though, was that he had felt this all before. _

_Then, a flash of light. _

"Brother! Wake up!"

Edward's eyes shot open. When they focused, he could see his brother's face looking worriedly at him.

"Good morning, Ed." Alphonse said. "How are you feeling?"

Ed rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up, wincing when a sharp pain ripped through his abdomen. "Like I got stabbed. What happened?"

"Just like you said," Al stated matter-of-factly. "A man stabbed you with a beer bottle."

"Ugh," Edward moaned as the memory of the attack came rushing back. "What the hell did I do to him?!"

"He was one of Cornello's followers," Alphonse said quietly. "Apparently, his daughter was sick, and Cornello promised to save her."

"Bullshit! That Cornello is such a lying bastard!" Ed cried furiously. His body started trembling, and he gasped at the pain shot through his midsection. He took in deep breaths, trying to calm himself. When that was done, he slowly pulled himself up, and finally took a good look at where he was.

He was sitting on a small bed, his brother standing beside him. To his left was an IV drip connected to his arm; to his right, beyond Al, was a nightstand. Another bed was on the other side of the room, with a similar set up. In between the two beds was a window, bright light streaming through it.

"Where are we?" Ed asked.

"You were bleeding really badly. A man brought us to the doctor's. She saved your life!" Alphonse replied gratefully. "There weren't any other rooms, so she's letting us stay in her house."

"Huh," It amazed Ed how such a small town had a doctor, much less one that could awe his brother. Unless she was pretty; Al was a little too biased towards pretty women. "Where is she now?"

Just then, someone knocked on the bedroom door.

"Come in." Edward called across the room. When the person on the other side appeared to have trouble opening the door, Alphonse walked over and opened it for them.

"Good morning, Lark!" He said as soon as he saw who it was. A girl shot him a grateful smile for opening the door.

She was carrying a tray of food, along with a pile of clothes. The girl set the items on the nightstand and looked at Ed.

The boy squirmed under her stare; he felt like her icy blue eyes were staring into his soul. Just when he thought he would snap, she glanced at the IV drip in the corner. He saw that it was almost empty, only a bit of red left to tell him what had been in there before.

When he turned back, the girl had gotten even closer to him. She touched his face, and he flinched away.

"What do you think you are?" Ed was unnerved by her intrusion. "A doctor?"

"Brother!" Al protested. "_She's_ the doctor that saved your life. Be nice!"

Edward took a good look at the girl. She had pulled her hand back with a surprised expression on her face. She was around his age, maybe older. Her dark hair was slightly damp, braided loosely to the side. Her eyes were large and full of emotion. She had a delicate build, her body covered by a doctor's coat and a dress. If not for the coat, he wouldn't have been able to tell she was a doctor.

"She's the one that saved my life?!" Edward burst out. "She's just a girl in a tiny village playing doctor!"

The girl's eyes narrowed, sparking with anger. She turned around and snatched up something from the pile of clothing she had set aside. She thrust the item in Ed's face, almost hitting him. It was his silver pocket-watch. Her eyes seemed to challenge him.

His face paled, this time not from blood loss. If looks could kill, he would have been burned multiple times until he died, then brought back to life and repeated the process over and over again. She seemed to be saying that he was no different than her, definitely not in the position to judge.

Alphonse saw that Lark was on the verge of attacking his brother, so he cut in. "Lark, sorry for Brother's behavior. He's not usually happy when he wakes up."

The girl looked at Al with a stern expression, as if to say "Stop making excuses for your brother". She sighed and composed herself, embarrassed by her outburst. She waved her hand like to say: "Let's start over."

Alphonse was happy that at least one person was acting rationally and said to his brother, "Ed, this is Lark. She was the doctor who kept you from dying."

Edward, wanting to be the bigger man, held his hand out to Lark. She tentatively shook it, her expression wary. "Nice to meet you, Lark. I'm Edward Elric. The one wearing the armor is my younger brother Alphonse Elric."

If she heard the slightly sarcastic tone in his voice, she didn't show it. She continued to unwrap his bandages, being careful not to cause the blond pain. Edward laid his head back in the pillow, silently fuming. The girl was acting like nothing had happened, and it pissed him off.

However, when she was done unwrapping his bandages and let him sit up, Edward was completely surprised. He saw that the place where he got stabbed wasn't as bad as Al had described it as. Was Lark really that good of a doctor? Though his body still hurt, which he suspected was from internal damage, he did not look like he had been on the verge of dying.

The room was completely silent as Lark redressed the wounds and checked his vitals. She didn't seem to mind the silence or the boys' staring, not glancing up from her work. After she was done, she pulled out the IV needle and allowed Ed to put on a shirt and a pair of shorts, and then gave him his breakfast. She wrote a note and handed it to him, the note telling him to eat the food slowly, and to chew it thoroughly. It also told him to take it easy for the next few days so he wouldn't reopen the cuts.

Lark gathered up the equipment and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. As soon as she was gone, Edward disregarded her instructions, wolfing down the food as fast as he could. He swallowed, and then said, "She doesn't talk much, does she?"

Al nodded. "I haven't heard her say a word since we got here. Brother, slow down!"

Edward ignored his brother, continuing to take giant bites. "She doesn't seem that impressive, but how did she save me? I don't look like I got stabbed."

"She used alchemy," The armor said in awe. "Without a transmutation circle!"

"What?!" Ed gaped at Al. "_She_ can use alchemy?!"

"Brother, stop doing that. You're sounding misogynistic."

"I am not a misogynist!" He thought about the girls and women who could beat his ass if he did become one. Winry Rockbell, Teacher, Riza Hawkeye... He shuddered just thinking about it.

"Then stop saying 'what?!' every time I say something about Lark, and use her name." Alphonse berated his older sibling. "She's been nothing but kind to you."

Edward, ashamed that he had been scolded by his younger brother, decided to change the subject. "Are you sure that she didn't use a transmutation circle? Maybe she used one but you didn't see it."

"She clapped her hands together before she transmuted. That's what you do. Then she just put her hands on the wound, there was a blue light, and it stopped bleeding. I guess it was medical alchemy." Al explained to his brother. For once in his life, Edward remained silent. Then he stood up and said, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it has to do with the fact why she won't talk."

* * *

Edward and Alphonse stayed with me for a few days, Edward healing, Alphonse helping me. All the bronchitis patients had gotten well, even Mark, so I sent them home. The house was silent, save for the occasional person coming around for a check-up.

Now, Al and I were in my backyard, taking care of the plants I grew there. While he pulled the weeds, I checked the plants for diseases and bugs.

"Lark!" I heard him yell. "Is this a weed?" I turned around, only to see him pulling at my poor rosemary plants. I waved at him to stop, and he let go of them. I ran over, hoping the boy hadn't caused too much damage to them.

I carefully inspected the plants, Al profusely apologizing. "I'm so sorry!" He wailed. "I didn't know what they were!"

I patted his back comfortingly. Not trusting him around green things anymore, I gathered up the plants I had picked, him following suit.

We walked back to the house in a comfortable silence, coming in through my back door. We crossed into the hospital part of the house, and I opened to the door to my storage room. Al walked in first, I had to stop and pick up the things I had set down to unlock the door. When I entered, I found him staring at everything.

The room was very large, I had to say. However, it wasn't the size that surprised him. The walls were lined with countertops and cabinets. Ingredients I used in my medicines were organized alphabetically, the ready-made potions in the cabinets. Recipes and alchemy notes written in code covered just about every surface. My medical equipment and supplies sat on the shelves on the walls without countertops. In middle of the room was the island I used to make the medicines, where something was always bubbling. Bunches of herbs hung above it, drying for future use. I loved this room. I knew it from top to bottom, all around. It was my little sanctuary.

"Wow," Alphonse had unfrozen. "This is all yours?" I nodded proudly. Actually, most of the recipes were made by me, as well as the alchemy notes. I had saved some of my parents' notes, like the how to transmute different types of blood. The rest of the notes were in my study.

He walked over and looked at one of my coded alchemy notes. "I bet Brother could understand this." I rolled my eyes. Over the past few days, I had gotten to know the two brothers.

Edward was the older one, and hated it when people called him short. I found that one out when I wrote that he was "short" on calcium. He had yelled something about a shrimp and a lentil, but I hadn't been paying attention. Not to mention that he also hated milk. I had to find ways to sneak calcium into his food, like crushing calcium pills into his juice, because he absolutely refused to drink it. He was loud and boisterous, never backing down from a fight.

Alphonse, on the other hand, was quiet and gentle. I was always finding him with a lost animal, which he always begged to his brother that he wanted to keep it. Ed would refuse, saying that they were traveling all the time, and wouldn't be able to take care of it. Alphonse acted courteous around me, semi-scolding his brother about things. Despite that, deep down, I knew Al would support his older sibling no matter what.

I wanted to find out more about them, but feared that would be intruding their privacy. I got along well with them, and they never questioned me on my muteness, although Ed made snide remarks like: "Care to speak louder?" whenever I shook or nodded my head in response to a question. However, I did sometimes find him staring at me like he was trying to read me. Not that I was one to judge. I was constantly wondering what had happened for him to have the automail limbs and for Al to have his soul bonded to the armor (that part I wasn't sure of, but there was enough evidence to say so).

I finished hanging up plants to dry, and then turned off the lights, motioning for Al to come with me. After shutting the door behind us, we went into the waiting room to find Edward sitting on one of the couches. His legs were propped up on the coffee table across from it. He seemed to be waiting for us, golden eyes lighting up when he saw his brother.

"Al!" He jumped up. "Let's go spar!" Al looked uncertainly at me, silently asking whether or not it was okay. I nodded, waving them off and pointing to the backyard. The two boys ran off, leaving me alone. I picked up a basket that I kept by the front entrance. While the boys were fighting, I had to go to the market to buy food. I flipped over the sign on my door that said: "OPEN" to the sign that said: "CLOSED", and headed for streets.

The ladies at the farmer's market greeted me cheerily when I stopped at their stands to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I smiled back at them, before I looked over the produce.

After I paid for the items, I turned to go to back home. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little girl playing ball by an old wall. The wall was there to block off the wind that carried sand into the town. It was already weakened by that sand blasting toward it, but the child was bouncing the ball off of it. I started walking over to stop her. Then, a large gust of wind blew through the market. I was knocked sideways by the powerful push of it. I saw the wall lurch toward the little girl.

Time seemed to slow down. She was too far away for anyone to warn her. Instinctively, I clapped my hands together, getting ready for a transmutation. I slammed my palms on the ground, blue electricity moving over the ground to form a circle around her. Earth moved into a dome, covering her from the falling wall. The bricks tumbled over the dome and onto the ground, not leaving a dent.

The whole marketplace had gone silent. I clapped my hand together again, releasing the girl from the shield of earth. She stared at me, and then ran into the arms of her mother. Everyone was looking at me. They had all seen me use alchemy. Parents held their children closer to them, as if trying to protect them from me. People that I knew were casting me scared glances. Then, I heard someone yell, "She used alchemy! She's an alchemist!"

The entire place launched into chaos. They were yelling, screaming, and threatening me. Some backed away from me, others slowly closed in.

"We trusted you, Lark!"

"I knew there was something wrong with you!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"LEAVE THIS TOWN AND NEVER COME BACK!"

I frantically looked around. Now everyone had angered expressions. They glared at me, judging me. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, not looking at anyone. And ran.

Away from the people who once needed me.

Away from the people who hated me.

Tears ran down my face as I fled. I felt betrayed by them all.

* * *

**And scene. So, what do you guys think of this? Is the pacing too fast? Or too slow? Let me know in the reviews!**

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**Special thanks to MissiB for reviewing!**


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